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Can Psychophysics Be Fun? Exploring the Feasibility of a Gamified Contrast Sensitivity Function Measure in Amblyopic Children Aged 4–9 Years

Elfadaly, D; Abdelrazik, ST; Thomas, PBM; Dekker, TM; Dahlmann-Noor, A; Jones, PR; (2020) Can Psychophysics Be Fun? Exploring the Feasibility of a Gamified Contrast Sensitivity Function Measure in Amblyopic Children Aged 4–9 Years. Frontiers in Medicine , 7 , Article 469. 10.3389/fmed.2020.00469. Green open access

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Abstract

Routine assessments of the Contrast Sensitivity Function [CSF] could be useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of amblyopia. However, current CSF measures are not clinically practical, as they are too slow, too boring, and too uncomfortable to sustain a young child's interest. Here we assess the feasibility of a more gamified approach to CSF testing, in which a maximum likelihood psychophysical algorithm (QUEST+) is combined with a largely unconstrained user interface (no fixation target, head restraints, or discrete trials). Twenty-five amblyopes (strabismic, anisometropic, or mixed) aged 4.0–9.2 years performed the gamified CSF assessment monocularly (once per eye). The test required the child to “pop” (press) grating stimuli as they “bounced” around a tablet screen. Head tracking via the tablet's front-facing camera was used to adjust for variations in viewing distance post hoc. CSFs were fitted for each eye, and Area Under the CSF (AUCSF) computed as a summary measure of sensitivity. The results showed that AUCSF measurements were able to separate moderately and severely amblyopic eyes from fellow eyes (case-control effect), and to distinguish individuals with varying degrees of vision loss (dose effect). Even the youngest children exhibited no difficulties completing the test or comprehending what to do, and most children appeared to find the test genuinely enjoyable. Informal feedback from a focus group of older children was also positive, although potential shortcomings with the present design were identified. This feasibility study indicates that gamified, child-friendly vision assessments have promise as a future means of pediatric clinical assessment. Such measures could be particularly valuable for assessing children outside of conventional eye-care facilities (e.g., home-monitoring, school screening).

Type: Article
Title: Can Psychophysics Be Fun? Exploring the Feasibility of a Gamified Contrast Sensitivity Function Measure in Amblyopic Children Aged 4–9 Years
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2020.00469
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2020.00469
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Experimental Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10110253
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